Shinzō Abe is Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister. He first held office in 2006 for one year, and then from 2012 to 2020. He was then forced to resign due to health problems. While delivering a speech on Friday 8 July, he was shot.
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Shots fired during a speech
On Friday, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe was giving a campaign speech at a rally ahead of this Sunday’s (July 10) upper house elections. He was in the city of Nara. During his speech, he was shot twice. A businessman, Makoto Ichikawa, who was a witness at the scene told Reuters:
There was a loud bang and then smoke. The first shot, no one knew what was going on, but after the second shot, what looked like special police tackled him.
He is in a 'very grave condition'
Footage aired by NHK public television showed Abe holding his chest as he collapsed on the street, with blood on his shirt. According to several media reports, he was shot in the left side of his chest and apparently his neck.
Abe was immediately airlifted to hospital in cardiac arrest, as reported by NHK. In Japan, this term is used when there are no vital signs of life. Current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Abe was in a 'very grave condition.'
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced at an emergency press conference that a man believed to be the shooter had been arrested at the scene by police on suspicion of attempted murder. The man has been identified as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami from Nara.
According to Fuji TV, Yamagami was a member of the maritime self-defence force before leaving in 2005, as reported by Reuters. He allegedly shot Abe with a homemade shotgun.
Shinzō Abe dies
In breaking news, a senior Liberal Democratic Party official has told NHK that Abe has died in the hospital where he was receiving treatment. He was 67-years-old.
This article was translated from Oh!MyMag FR.
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